Under the shadow of Asia Bibi; Life as a Christian in Pakistan

Source: CNN

Rawalpindi, Pakistan (CNN) It is a chilly winter’s morning and a weak blue fog has settled over Rawalpindi as we arrive at the city’s St. Joseph’s Cathedral. A security guard, wrapped in navy shawls and a purple balaclava ushers us in, where the grounds lay deserted and still. A sense of unease is palpable among the tiny stream of early morning worshipers walking in.

It’s been 10 days since Asia Bibi, a Catholic woman, was acquitted on charges of blasphemy by Pakistan’s Supreme Court on the October 31.

Bibi, a mother of five from Punjab province was sentenced in 2010 after she was accused of defiling the name of the Prophet Muhammad during an argument a year earlier with Muslim women over drinking water. She was handed a death sentence and was on death row for nearly eight years before her acquittal.

Let’s face it: a ‘fight’ about drinking water sounds to me like a ‘left-over’ from the Hindu (untouchables) culture. Consequently those who accused Aasia Bibi are in fact to be charged on blasphemy charges.